Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, which is the size of Western Europe ("slightly less than four times the size of Texas"), is located in Central Asia and borders on the Caspian Sea, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. It "sits near the northeast portion of the Caspian Sea and claims most of the Sea's biggest known oil fields." "The oil rich nation also owns 25 percent of the world's uranium supplies." In 2005, Kazahkstan had a population of 15.2 million. 

Paying for academic reports
In September 2008, it was revealed that the Kazakhstan government had paid John Hopkins University's Central Asia-Caucasus Institute to author three reports about the country. The arrangement was brokered through APCO Worldwide, Kazakhstan's Washington DC lobbying firm. The Kazakh government paid $52,300 for reports titled "Kazakhstan's New Middle Class" and "Parliament and Political Parties in Kazakhstan." A third report, "Kazakhstan in its Neighborhood," was "also underwritten by the government," but lobbying reports that would disclose the amount paid for it are not yet available. The reports, issued by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins, do not disclose the Kazakhstan funding. Institute director S. Frederick Starr said their "relationship was only with the lobbying firm and not directly with the government." He added that "the entire editorial process was 100 percent in our hands." The author of the third report, Hudson Institute fellow Richard Weitz, said, "It's an important topic so I would have written about it anyway." The Kazakhstan funding also required the Johns Hopkins Institute to sponsor "think tank discussions" on each report, "sponsored by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute."

Public relations work
"SML Strategic Media, the Washington, D.C. PR and editorial shop, placed a four-page advertorial in the September/October [2006] Foreign Affairs, the high-brow political journal, extolling progress made in Kazakhstan under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev," O'Dwyer's Public Relations News reported August 29, 2006.

In October 2007, O'Dwyer's reported that APCO Worldwide "has received a payment of $487,777 to cover work done here through the end of the year for the government of strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev. ... Kazakhstan is embroiled in a fight with western oil companies over the development of a field in the Caspian." 

War in Iraq
Kazakhstan is "a member of the 'coalition of the willing'" and "has 27 volunteer engineers in Iraq." 

Governance
Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan A. Nazarbaev, was re-elected to a seven-year term on January 10, 1999. Daniyal Akmetov has served as Prime Minister since June 2003. 

SCO member
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), "created in 1996 and reborn in 2001 when it was bolstered to counter the initial eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization", is comprised of "China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," Jephraim P. Gundzik wrote in the June 9, 2005, Asia Times.

"So far, the bilateral U.S.-Kazakh cooperation has been exemplary. But new challenges from the north and east loom, as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of which China and Russia are key players, is strengthening. Moscow is also promoting its Unified Economic Space project, to include Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan, and the Commonwealth of Independent States Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)&mdash;a Warsaw Pact-style military alliance," Cohen wrote September 27, 2006, in the Washington Times.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * A. Elizabeth Jones
 * APCO Worldwide
 * Cheney Energy Task Force / National Energy Policy (May 2001)
 * China-Iran-Russia axis
 * Kazakhstan and coal
 * Kazakhstan's oil industry
 * National Endowment for Democracy - "Promoting Democracy" in Kazakhstan
 * Pipelineistan
 * US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce

External resources

 * Country Analysis Brief: Kazakhstan, U.S. Department of Energy.
 * Country Profile: Kazakhstan, CIA The World Factbook(last updated September 19, 2006).
 * Country Profile: Kazakhstan and Timeline: Kazakhstan, BBC (last updated September 13, 2006).
 * Kazakhstan in the Wikipedia.
 * Kazakhstan.com website; news from World News Network.
 * KazakhstanOil.com / Kazakhstan Energy website.
 * Kazakhstan Post website (ChecnyaNews.com/KazakhstanNews).
 * ExKz.org: "news and views for expatriots in Kazakhstan."

External articles

 * Michel Collon, "The West's objectives in its war against Yugoslavia," Solidaire (translation), March 31, 1999.
 * "The high price of Kazakhstan's MiG affair," STRATFOR.com (Asia Times), November 18, 1999.
 * Joel Shin, "Kazakhstan: A Growing Relationship?" The Forum for International Policy, December 18, 2001.
 * "Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the New Kazakhstan-American Relationship," December 21, 2001 (The Avalon Project, Yale University).
 * Robert M. Cutler, "Emerging triangles: Russia-Kazakhstan-China," Asia Times, January 15, 2004.
 * Justin Raimondo, "Catering to Kazakhstan's Kleptocracy. Nurturing Nursultan Nazarbayev's Central Asian empire of corruption – a 'vital' U.S. ally," antiwar.com, June 8, 2005.
 * Jephraim P. Gundzik, "The US and that 'other' axis," Asia Times, June 9, 2005.
 * "SML Touts Kazakhstan as 'beacon'," O'Dwyer's Public Relations News, August 29, 2006.
 * Yuri Zarakhovich, "Coming On Strong. Kazakhstan's oil has made it the leading player in Central Asia. But economic success doesn't guarantee democracy," TIME Magazine (Europe), September 25, 2006.
 * "US Pursues Ties to Oil-Rich Kazakhstan," Associated Press (truthout), September 25, 2006.
 * Anne Gearan, "U.S. Pursues Closer Ties With Kazakhstan," Associated Press (Forbes), September 25, 2006.
 * Michael Steen, "Leader's U.S. visit mixes Kazakh oil and democracy," Reuters (Boston Globe), March 26, 2006.
 * Peter Fedynsky, "Kazakhstan's President to Meet with George W. Bush," Voice of America News, September 26, 2006.
 * "Nursultan Nazarbayev in 'Kazakhgate' Cover-Up. Travels to George Bush's Texas Ranch," Commersant (Russia), September 26, 2006.
 * "U.S. Promotes Ties With Oil-Rich Kazakhstan," NewsMax, September 26, 2006.
 * Ariel Cohen, "Eurasian tiger's visit," Washington Times, September 27, 2006.
 * William Mellor and Le-Min Lim, "China's Oil Deals With Iran, Myanmar Put It at Odds With U.S.," Bloomberg, September 27, 2006.
 * "Kazakh Oil Field Takes the Best from Both East and West," Reuters (Mos News), September 27, 2006.
 * "Kazakhstan Leader Visits Former President Bush," Associated Press (Fox News), September 27, 2006.
 * Yuri Zarakhovich, "Kazakhstan Comes On Strong. The country's oil has made it the leading player in Central Asia, and a welcome visitor to the White House. But economic success doesn't guarantee democracy," TIME Magazine, September 27, 2006.
 * "They Smell a Borat? Kazakhstan Takes Out 4-Page Ad Section in 'NYT'," Editor & Publisher, September 27, 2006.
 * Lionel Beehner, "The White House’s Kazakh Dilemma," Council on Foreign Relations, September 28, 2006.
 * Jennifer Hoar, "Kazakhstan Tries U.S. Image Makeover. Yet Country’s Publicity Campaign Still Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story," CBS News, September 28, 2006.
 * Caren Bohan, "Bush nurtures close ties with Kazakhstan," Reuters, September 29, 2006.
 * Guy Dinmore and Isabel Gorst, "Bush to seal strategic link with Kazakh leader," Financial Times (MSNBC), September 29, 2006.
 * "Kazakhstan Starts Preemptive PR Campaign Before Release Of Borat Movie: Watch The Ads Running On CNN...," The Huffington Post, September 29, 2006.
 * Nikola Krastev, "Kazakhstan: Long Delays Sap The Strength From 'Kazakhgate' Case," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 29, 2006.
 * "Kazakhstan PR Plan Meant To Counter Comic Borat," Associated Press (TheIndyChannel.com), September 29, 2006.
 * "US nurtures ties with Kazakhstan," BBC, September 30, 2006.
 * "Kazakh bank gets own name wrong. Kazakhstan's central bank is to issue new banknotes despite a spelling error," BBC, October 19, 2006.
 * "Response to Kazakh investigation," World Nuclear News, June 3, 2009.